Door construction



Nov. 9, 1943- c. B. MALARKEY 1 DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 1 1942 mQ v j I19. 3 Tlg' cHARLEgveMAAaKEY ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 9, 1943 2 Claims.

This invention relates to doors, and has particular reference to a door so constructed as to resist the stresses which tend to warp the door out of a fiat plane.

Doors are commonly constructed of stiles, rails and panels. The stiles and rails comprise the framework of the door, the stiles being the mem- I bers which define the longitudinal edges of the door, and the rails being the cross members which unite the stiles at the top and bottom edges of the door and at intermediate points,.de-

pending upon the type of construction. "The panels occupy the spaces between the stiles and rails. In the lmanufacturing process, the stiles an railsare sawed and planed, to the proper dimen; sions and delivered to the assemblyroomto await the operations of the workmen who fabricate the 'doors. After lumber is sawed it becomes subject to new stresses which tend to warp each piece out of the flat plane created bythe saws...v It

will be appreciated that woodis not a solid homo geneous substance like: steel or glass. It is ,made up of innumerable little hollow tubes called fibers,

arranged lengthwise or along the grain in the wood. Wood fibers are 'addedeach year as the tree grows, and the size and number of the fibers added 'in each year's growth ring depend upon the amount of moisture, sunlight, andother plant food available to the tree during the par- 7 ticular year of growth. Consequently, no two pieces of lumber are exactly alike, nor is'the fiber structure on one surface of a board exactly like the fiber structure on the other surface. For

this reasonyas moisture is absorbed by the wood fibers, the piece of lumber tends to bend into the shape which will best accommodate the'moisture 7 Charles Malarkey, Portland, Oreg. Application February 16, 1942, SerialNo. 431,094 1 absorption by 'thefiber structure adjacent its respective surfaces. For this reason, in the manufacture of doors, for example, wherein the fiatness'of the dooriswholly dependent upon the ability to retain the structural members in a fiat plane, a great deal of difiiculty isexperienced due to the tendency of these members to assume a warped shape. l

In the assembly roomof the door manufactuv ing plant, only those longitudinal structural members which have remained absolutely'straight are used in the'fabrication of-lthe doors.- The great number of these members which have become warped arenecessarily' discarded. These are of clear stock, that is, free from knots, pitch seams, and the like, and represent a serious loss to the manufacturer; It has been discovered that these warped structuralmembers can be utilized invention.

for the purpose for which they were intended by cutting them intoshorter lengths than the length of the door, and thereafter uniting in end 10 end.

relation the requisite numberof pieces of door stock cut from unrelated timbers to make a stile of the requiredlength. Itis preferable that adjacentsections of the composite stile comprise a fiber structure which varies greatly in each section. In such a structure the tendencyof each individual section to bend into :a shape is counteracted by the tendencyof adjacent sections to assume a difierent shape dfue to the stiilening influence of panel sections which engage the inner edges o fadjacentsections. "Thisjco'nstruction is particularly productive "of the efiect intended if the several pieces are united withthe longitudinal curvature of the grain in adjacent pieces disposed toward opposite faces of the stile. 1 In other words, adjacent sections whichrnay be cut from a single stile are facedinthe opposite direction from their original ;p osition, whereby. the longitudinal center of the composite stileiabricated therefrom, instead of being' warped in a long continuous curve from end. to end of thestile, is caused to follow a' number. of ,pieces ineach of whichthe curvature is disposedtoward opposite faces or the stile Thereupon, the composite stile is run through the planer to, produce the desired fiat surface and a structure is had wherein the tendency to warp out of a flat plane is materially lessened.

t is the primary object time invention to i provide a door construction wherein the forces .which tend to cause the door tobendin onedi- 1rectionare resistedby forces. which tend to cause thedoor to bend in theopposite direction, thereby tending to hold thedo'or in a flat plane.

' A further object of the invention is to provide means for utilizingdoor stock which has become 'warpe'dout. of a fiat planefor the construction o'fdoors which are notably warp resistant.

With these andother objects and advantages in view, the inventionlresides in the novel construction hereinafter described [and illustrated inth'e accompanying drawing, it being under stood that various modifications of size, proportion and detail of structural featuresmay be .em-,

ployed without departing, from the scope of the Referring to the drawing, Figure l a perspective View of a portion of a. door embodying the present invention; Figure: is an edge view -of'the door illustrated in Figurel; Figure 3.is;a

perspective view of a tongueand groove .joi'nt between the abutting ends of the longitudinal sp onding portion offthe. opposite stile.

structural members; Figure 4 is a section taken on the lined-4 of Figure v1, illustrating the means for uniting the stiles and cross rails of :the door; and Figure 5 is an edge view of a door illustrating a modified form of construction embodying the invention. I

The drawing illustrates a door construction wherein the longitudinal structural members or stiles have been cut into a plurality of pieces of a length considerably shorter than the requisite length of the stile. Referringto Figures 1 and 2, the door stile illustrated comprises sections l, 2 and 3 which have been joined in end to end.

relation by tongue and groove joints 4 to produce a composite stile of substantially uniform dimensions throughout its length. Infabricating the longitudinal structural member 'or stile; the pieces I Z and 3 are selected ;to present in adjacent sections of the stile a fiber structure of greatly variant characteristics.

These are so arrangedthat the longitudinal curvature of the grainin adjacent pieces isdisposed toward opposite {aces :o fthestile; In the construction -illustrated, the longitudinalcurvatures of pieces .-l;.and 3 are disposed in the direction of arrows 5 and. 6,- while thelOngitudinaljcurvatHre of piece 2 isdisposed in the direction of the arrowl. In this structure the forces, tending. to .warp the door in either one of the directions indicated by the arrows .aretransmittedby the adjacent panel section to=the adjacent stile section. and thereby oppose .the forces tending to warp the door in theopposite. direction, with the result thatthestileisheld in a substantially ,flat {plane irrespective of I conditions vaiifecting. the ..moisture content of the wood. The, door illustrated in v the drawingJcomprises rails 8, Sand l0,.the' first and lastmentioned frails constituting. the. top. and. bottom .edges of" the do'orgfres'pectively, while. rail 9 divides .the. space. bounded. by; the stiles and. rails 8. and .l9.-.into.panel sections H and; 1 2. In the preferred construction, each of the rails 8, 9. and i0 isjoinecl toroneof .the'stile members], 2 and 3, andeach bf the stile members isin turnjoined mane of therailsl vEiram-inationof.Figure l of the drawingwill reveallthat thetop rail "Kisse- Curedto the inner edgesof. the stilemember. I and,.that the. rail .9. intermediate. the length of .the.door.is ,secured .to .stilamember 2, and that rail I ll'is secured to stile member3. Thus, each section of thej'composite stile is secured to. a rail, through which it is. also secured'to, the corre- Thus each section of thecornposite stile is supported .at. its ends by a, tongue and groove joint by in the well known manner illustrated inLetters a Patent No. 199,871, issued JanuaryZQ, 1878, to

J. Springer for Manufacture of doors, .etc'.1,

Thus, it will be seen that in the instant-structure each panel engages the inner edges of .adfjacent stile sections and tends to hold them ,in a

straight line.

The construction is productive of a door em;

bodying the strength and rigidity inherent in doors employing stiles and rails cut from timbers of the requisite length for the door, and which als'o 'e'nables the "fabrication of flat doors which .tendto remain flat notwithstanding an unequal absorption of moisture by the wood ble only atIthe edges ofthedoor and inthe mould-l which it is joined in end to. end relationwith an adjacent section, and is also supported transversely of the. door by a tongue and groove joint uniting. it to one of the several rails of the door.

Each of thestile sectionsl, 2 andI3 is provided rails Band Land in eachedge of the intermecliaterail 9.. Thefpanel sections, and..l2 en.-

" gage in ".the medial groove of each. otthe opposit'e stiles of. the doorframe as 'Wellfasin the groove in. the facing edges of the rails,

fibersonfopposite surfaces of the door. I

The modification of this construction shown. I

in Figurefi'illustrates the usepf veneers 15 which comprise" the surfaces 'of the stiles and 'rails.

Preferably, of course, the veneers l5 are of the same species of wood as are the'panels II and: f

i2., so. thatthe. face ofthe door will present a unifor m appearance. 'I'he veneerslB, being ad-.- hesively secured to thestiles and rails; add;a1:g- H C preciably to the s trength of the joints between adjacent sections. of the structural members; In I a door. ofthe ty-pe illustrated the-jointsfl are Visiing at the inner edge of. theistile, and donot detract. fromthe appearance of thedoor.

Each or. thesections or the composite nai; joined in end to end relation Withvthe adjacent sections by.,a; ongue and groove joint made. .by.

forming the abutting; ends of the severalfs'ections with inte'rfittin'g tongues andjgroovesc'on structed. in duplication, and yet so formed ,that'. 1*

it. is necessary to'turn one or the pieces side for;

side in order tocomplete theljoint. This insures 7 that correspcnding surfaces of adjacentgse ctions of the composite stile will comprisegreatly'difljerg j ing fiber structure, 'andthatthe 'efiect armmspur absorption thereby willi'vary at least in prop'o tion to the differen'cein-the.grain'structure.; v end of each, section=o"f stile to beunitedltoQan A. adjacent section is provided with tongues wane I! which definethe walls of a tapering grooveLIB" V relation of theseve'ral pie'c'es th'e tongue .16 of lying ithereb'etweenfinto which, in the interfitted-' the oppositely directed section is designed to register. I In the constructi ton e I1 'is formed by the fao'eila' ofhthe stile member; Adjacent the'end '0f,the.ton 1i 1.1; fa f portion of i the wood is removed to. form a'shoulder onjillustrated,,one side '6: at f,

20, from which point the tongue, If! i uniformly .1. tapered to its end. Adjacent the opposite face I '23 of-the stiler'n'ember acut away portion 2 I. ly-

ing between the tongue I61 andjatongue ZZ fornis' agroove forthe reception-ofthe oppositely (n-j rected tongue I 'L. Theend of the-tongue Z2 abuts l the shouldi'ar'itlv and forms a meeting face of the oppositely directed sections; at the surfaceof the. I I

stile; An adhesive vmaterialapplied to themeet ing' surfaces of thejointsmateriallyincreases the tensilestrength of the jointportion-and the jointsbecomes as strong as the intermediate portions f 5 f I the stile.

"Having now described my: inventior'r andin whatmanner the-same may; beused, ,whatI claim as new and desire to protect by Letters, Patent-is:

1.. A door having: stiles defining'thexlongitudinaledges of-the. door and railsedefining. the f ends and. intermediate cross members thereof; a

medial groove in the inner edge of each saidstile and in the. iacing'edges of saidrails; panel sec-' tions in said door engagin-gwinisaid. grooves. and

extending between said stiles and rails, at least one of said stiles comprising a plurality of sections joined in end to end relation the longitudinal curvature of the grain in adjacent sectionsbeing disposed toward opposite faces of the stile, means uniting each section of said stile with one of said rails and each of said rails with one section of said stile, each'two adjacent stile sections being supported across the joint therebetween by-a single panel section engaging'in the medial groove of said adjacent stile sections,

2. Adoor having stiles defining the longitudinal edges of the door and rails defining the ends and intermediate cross members thereof, a medial groove in the inner edge of each said stile and in the facing edges of said rails, panel sections in saiddoor engaging in said grooves and extend.-

ing between said stiles and rails, at least one of said stiles comprising a plurality of sections joined in end to end relation and having corresponding faces composed of widely difiering grain structure wherein in each section the tendency to warp toward one side of the door upon the absorption of moisture is counteracted by the tendency of adjacent sections to warp toward the i opposite side of the door, and means uniting each CHARLES B. MALARKEY. 

